Plastic pollution has emerged as one of the most pervasive environmental challenges, with microplastics (MPs) widely distributed across marine ecosystems worldwide. This study aimed to assess the uptake of MPs by key fish and invertebrate species from different locations in the coastal zone of the Bulgarian Black Sea. Fish were collected during routine monitoring surveys in September–November 2024, while invertebrates were obt...

The Black Sea waters and sediments accumulate a wide range of pollutants, which, together with natural factors, can have diverse and combined effects on marine organisms. Cellular oxidative stress (OS) is a common response to environmental stressors and thus an indicator of the physiological resilience of organisms. The present study analyzed OS in fish species from the Bulgarian part of the Black Sea. Samples of 18 fish speci...

Introduction Human activities and their effects on ecosystems are threatening biodiversity and causing a decline in species, population, and genetic diversity. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding represents a powerful instrument to assess marine biodiversity, enabling an efficient, cost-effective, and non-invasive approach. eDNA metabarcoding technology has significantly progressed in recent years and has been widely employ...

The present study examined the genetic diversity and spatial distribution of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), an economically important species on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling software Version 3.4.4. was utilized to develop a habitat suitability model for S. maximus in the Bulgarian Black Sea region. Data collected via demersal and pelagic surveys and genetic sampling from 2017 to 2021 were ut...

Size at first sexual maturity (L50) represents an important life history trait in the development of management measures providing fundamental information to avoid the exploitation of younger individuals. L50 is known to display variability due to fishing pressure, geographical gradient and environmental features. In this study, in order to investigate L50 variability among areas of the Mediterranean and Black Sea, maturity og...